On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.

“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.

HRod had a couple of good years, and other stories.

Today in baseball history:

1887 – A baseball reporters association is organized. It pledges to work to standardize scoring practices, especially in the gray area of stolen bases. (2)

1913 – The Cubs fire Johnny Evers as manager, but expect him to continue as a player. He declines. (2)

1930 – The Rules Committee of baseball issues a greatly revised code, reducing the number of rules by combining many. Not only is the sacrifice rule abolished but also the rule awarding a home run when the ball bounces into the stands. “Bounce homers” will now be doubles. This had already been in effect in the American League but not the National League. (2)

1949 – By a 7-1 vote, the American League rejects a proposal to bring back the legal spitball. The rules committee also alters the strike zone to the space between the armpits and the top of the knees. The new rule eliminates the batter’s shoulders being within the strike zone. (1,2)

1950 – The owners vote to drop the bonus and high school rule which was designed to prevent the wealthier clubs from buying up all of the available talent. The rule required that all “bonus players” had to stay on the major league roster after one season in the minors. (1,2)

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Cubs Birthdays: Tom Daly, Bob Carpenter.

Today in History:

1408 – Order of the Dragon: The Order of the Dragon was first created on December 12, 1408 by Emperor Sigismund, then King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia.

1901 – Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada.

1957 – Willem J Kolff and his team at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic removed the heart from a dog and replaced it with a pneumatic pump which kept the dog alive for 90 minutes, proving the viability of the artificial heart.

1965 – Bears halfback Gale Sayers ties the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game with six in a 61–20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Wrigley Field.

Common sources:

*pictured.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.